Monday, January 31, 2011

Good Monday to you all. Time for another link back to archives for Cleaning up our Manuscripts. Today's a general tidbit archive link: less and fewer, the little things that create beautiful or memorable prose, throwing out the rules for rhythm, whatnot (I just wanted to write "whatnot").

ready for spring

I hiked up to Whale Back Rock - Sweetie and Melissa's secret place - yesterday, and I made a video. It's a bit shaky and not so good, but maybe that fits, ha! I'm waiting for my other brother to compose music for the background. Soon, I'll also finish the other video my big brother composed music for, for the Graces novels. My brothers are gifted *smiling*

Yesterday on Sunday Morning, they had stuttering kids - made me think of Melissa, how she stuttered, and how Sweetie's magic helped her. It's tough being a kid when you feel different, or when you can't express yourself "like everyone else." We all could use a Sweetie in our lives - even as adults.

Now, you all go have a good day! I'm going for a run, and then I must work on VK III - it's time to stop playing around. Deadlines are not kind to playing around.

PS - I forgot to mention! If you asked for a Review Copy of Sweetie, please email me - my website has an "email me" icon, and maybe on my blog profile.

Friday, January 28, 2011

This weekend is supposed to be warmer than we've had in . . . I don't remember; sometime in fall? It may heave up to 50 degrees. If so, I'm going to hike up to the secret place where Whale Back Rock is and do a Sweetie reading right there. If you've read Sweetie, you recognize Whale Back Rock - it makes several appearances, and is based on a real boulder. It takes at least an hour to get there, if I remember right - been a while since I've hiked up there. It's serene and lovely and ancient and undeveloped. I hope it stays that way. If something "big" ever happened with my books, I'd buy up as much land as I could to protect my Killian Knob and surrounding mountain area to protect them from further development.

Someone's comment reminded me to say that I'm going to record the reading at Whale Back, so people can watch/listen/see :-D.

My musician brother Michael has made me some music - his interpretation of Bluegrass/Celtic music (he plays rock). It's a contemporary take and even has Fionadala's hoof beats in it! He named it "The Saga of Virginia Kate" (The Graces Novels). I put a sample draft video with his music on my FB page, and hope to have a trailer or some kind of video made from it soon that I can post here. If you want to hear it, just ask and I"ll send you the link, or go to my FB page. My other musician brother, Johnny (who plays jazz/blues), is creating his interpretation and I'll be using it for videos as well. So exciting! I have gifted brothers.

Okay: I have some ARC copies of SWEETIE that BB sent me to use as I wish! An ARC is Advance Review Copy; it was also my Galley Proof - the galley proof is what my publisher's send to me to read for One Last Look before it is published -that's the last opportunity I have to read for errors. As well, those copies are what are sent to reviewers, because they are printed in advance of the actual publication date and are printed more inexpensively (though it's hard to tell really). Whomever gets one of these copies knows that it usually will contain errors. At this point, however, there aren't changes to the story, only nits and typos and last minute things, like for example, in the Sweetie ARC a name is wrong towards the end (has Billy instead of TJ), and et cetera.

So, if you review books, contact me and I'll send you one. If you don't review books but have always wanted to, then go ahead and contact me, or, place your request with your email in the comments section. Of course, if you hate it, pretend I didn't send it to you *LAUGHING* okay, I'm kidding *laugh* I'll give them away until they are gone.

I've become facinated by crows - it's Virginia Kate's fault, she drew my attention to them. Yesterday, the crows were active and loud at Lake Junaluska - and some of them were chasing off the ducks, cawing loudly at them, running at them, and then fluffing out their wings and feathers when they "won." Sometimes they'll almost seem as if they are posing for me, turning to the camera, staying put even when I come closer. I need to sort through the photos I've been taking, but these were first, so I just grabbed them.

skating on ice

awww best buds or honeys

Two videos for you: One was taped when I was bored during an electrical outage- tee-hee (you can hear the rain and the creek sounds in background). The other made me laugh - when you get to the part where he says someone stood talking to him and asking him questions or whatever but didn't by his book and instead bought John Grisham's book; folks, this happens! *laughing*

And, GMR bought me an early birthday present (my birthday isn't until next month)- A Telescope! I am so excited! I can't wait for a clear night to use my Celestron Telecope. Ohhhh! Maybe Neil deGrasse Tyson will come over now . . . huh? You think? Maybe?

Monday, January 24, 2011

How much do you pay for a haircut? Let’s say your stylist cuts your hair in about 30ish minutes, and you return to have it re-cut every 4-10 weeks depending on you.

What about going out to dinner? Or to lunch? Or a Supreme Latte with extra supreme? Keeping in mind that once you eat/drink, it’s gone, and to have that experience again, you must buy more food/drink by opening up your wallet again and again and again.

Do you like manicures/pedicures? Do you like massages? Do you have a personal trainer? Is there something you collect?

And of all those things, and the et ceteras not mentioned, that you purchase and enjoy, do you ever expect to get them for free, or for the Service Provider to do their work for deep discounts because, just because?

Of course you don’t.

So why is it when authors talk about money they feel uncomfortable, as if they are embarrassed to even consider the idea of making money from Their Craft?

Is a writer’s work not considered Work?

A stylist cuts our hair and we shell out the money knowing that we’ll have to return to have it cut again and again and again for the same results we hope, but do we ask the stylist to give us a cut rate? Do we ask the stylist to cut our hair for free? We’d not dream of doing that—because we Value the Service.

Somehow being a novelist isn’t Valued as a Service. You can buy a book from Amazon, or your favorite bookseller, or an e-reader, (and many times at discounts), and you can enjoy that book and the feeling it gives you as many times as you want. You can lend your book (and one day, or now, e-reader books if I understand right) to a friend or relative and the author receives no royalty on that. You can sell your book to someone and the author receives no royalty on that. The author receives his/her one-time royalty when a book is purchased and that one-time royalty is a very small percentage of what the book sells for. Very small. On e-readers, authors make a bit more percentage because over-head costs aren’t as great.

But what if in some alternate universe an author made most every dime of their book’s cost, which they never would by the way, are they somehow unworthy of it?

An author takes months (some longer) writing their book, then they must rewrite and rewrite, then they may go through rejection and uncertainty, then when they have that contract, their work is not done—more editing, more waiting, more stress. When the book is published, their work begins again: marketing, promotion, personal events, etc etc etc—and many things the author pays for out of their own pockets. Then they must then create more work, and the cycle begins again.

Through all of this, the author does not know if his/her book will be loved or hated or ignored or somewhere in between; he she does not know if it will sell well or will not sell well.

It won’t matter how hard the author worked, how much money he/she spent, he/she never knows what his/her paycheck will be. And, all the while, he/she must cringe in a corner while people tell him/her that they don’t want to spend money on books, or they want to spend very little money on books, and why should they have to spend money on books?

Anyone who goes into the Novelist business to make money should not go into the novelist business. There are simply too many unknowns. There is a lot of work, a lot of stress, a lot of rejection, and there’s a lot of feeling that your work is Not Of Value—imagine going to work every day and doing the best danged job you can and your boss quibbles with you over your salary and makes you feel as if you should be giving your work away for free or whatever he decides that day to pay you based on whatever he’s feeling that day about you compared to some other worker, because your work is Not Valued.

In matters of art and the heart, it’s hard to place monetary values, but frankly, we have to. Novelists have to make a living, too, and for the Novelist to feel guilty for hoping his/her works sells so that he/she can pay the bills or contribute to the household makes this business seem as if it’s more a Hobby than Real Live Work.

Is it because unlike the stylist or the restaurant worker or the oil tycoon or the actor/actress or the football player or the ice cream man we can do our work in our pajamas tucked in our little houses? You can’t see us working? It looks like lots-o-fun? It’s “easy” or “anyone can do it” – well, even the person who digs a hole gets a paycheck, and just about all of us can dig a hole, right?

What is it that separates the Novelist’s work from everyone else’s work? What is it about matters of art and the heart that makes the Work not valued?

Or is it because the writer, the novelist, does not teach people to value his/her work? Did we start it all by being apologetic about what we do or for wanting our work to Sell like a Product. Do we not value our own work? Is it because many times we readily admit we'd do it all for free because we love it so much? It's all we ever wanted to do? We are begging someone anyone to just read our work and love us, please please please just love us?

Friday, January 21, 2011

I am thinking of all those Science Fiction movies where the Blob or some Alien life form hurtles to our planet and then begins to destroy it; when instead, maybe these teeny little aliens came and were no more than the building blocks of life that led to Us and every living thing. These teeny aliens created instead of destroying.

If God or not-a-god had a hand in it, maybe God or not-a-god played a bit of marbles with the tiniest of a dot of bit of seemingly nothing that Exploded outward and beyond, and as debris and objects clanged one against the other, the Earth, and more, was formed, and out of that seeming Chaos was the Grand Design that is beautiful and awesome and should be protected and cherished. Keeping the Open Mind, that either Earth and the Heavens were formed by God the Great Scientist or Not-a-god-but-Science-Chaos Only—makes no matter to me for these purposes right here now, for I am here, typing this to You. I exist. I am a ball of energy – a scientific wonder, connected to You.

Who made me isn’t as important as, Will I Survive? Who made the earth isn’t as important as, Will Earth Survive Intact? But, then again, who made this, or what made this, or how it was made could be very important to survival, for all I know—since we could be going round and round and round back to our beginnings and then around again. If all of this is by Design, then what has the Design in mind for Earth and its inhabitants? Or, if Earth was formed out of some chaotic chance that became design, then what has Chaos of the Universe in store for us? For surely we must pay attention. And surely we must feel a sense of gratitude, yes, but also we must feel responsbility for our very existence now and into the future. Earth will find a way; humans must find respect for the earth and for themselves as a whole -- wonderful beautiful biological machines, and that responsbility should extend to other life and species upon this beautiful wild planet.

Think of this: we all come from the same thing; we are the same thing. We all were formed from the same Stuff of Life, and this is forgotten as we celebrate our differences. Well, differences are good; differences are what make the world interesting. The differences come not exactly organically, but through our thoughts and how and where we were raised, or what species we are. It is how we decide to react to those “differences” that will decide our future, perhaps? All I know is I am grateful to whomever or whatever or however our Earth became into being, and allowed for such wondrous beauty and ideals and the kaleidoscope that makes up Earth and its inhabitants.

Now, go outside and find something beautiful and then tell me about it.

And Angie (Gumbo Writer) and I are proud to announce our Rose & Thorn Journal winter issue went live January 15. Go by and check out the prose, poetry, and our cover art. We're excited about this issue and count it as one of our favorites. You can click on the cover art to enter the issue or above where it reads "Journal" - hope you enjoy!

Now, y'all have a great day and I'll see you on Friday. (Sundays are my "blog walking" days - I hope to do that every Sunday as I enjoy visiting you all - I'm busy working on VK III and will have to really be serious now to make my deadline . . .)

Monday, January 17, 2011

It's Monday, and time for cleaning up our manuscripts, and as I said, for a time I'll post a link or links from the archives until we (I) catch up. It interests me to see on some or many of these archive links I am talking about making my deadline for Secret Graces - that was published before the Sweetie book in November! How time passes so quickly.

Today's archive link is a bit long, so it's the only one I'll link to today. But before I go on: remember that post I wrote about "Minding the Front of the Building" . . .? Well! GMR and I passed by there the other day and now they had someone dressed in a hotdog costume holding a sign and waving to passersby! *Grin* I can't wait to see what they'll do next. I really need to go in and see what's inside. And I am; soon. I'll let you all know what I see.

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop? Well, the owl said, “a-one, a-two, tha-ree,” CRUNCH! “Three licks to get to the center of the tootsie roll tootsie pop.”
How many does it take me? I never remember to count. Instead, I just enjoy the tootsie pop until I get to the gooey “chocolate” goodness in the center, and then I happily devour that, too . . . CONTINUED HERE or from link above.

Friday, January 14, 2011

﻿﻿ Rejection: I would lay bet every writer has received at least one. So, there is the "I'm going to keep trying," and there's the "I suck so I'm giving up" and there is something in between. Who are you? Having had to SEND rejections through the Rose & Thorn Journal, I know just how close some writers came to that acceptance - and how sometimes we never hear from that writer again, and we wish we would. Then there are writers who just do not fit our journal, and no matter how many times they submit, it may never ever work out between us.

This is a rejection letter I received in 2008 for what would become Tender Graces, a book that I'm receiving great reviews on, just as I am with Sweetie - my responses are in blue -of course I didn't send my responses back, because that just isn't done - but if I could have . . .
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Dear Kathryn,

Thank you for sending your material so promptly - I was really looking forward to taking a look at it (you were! Why . . . dang . . . that's nice to hear). Unfortunately, your project doesn't seem right for me. Since it's crucial that you find an agent who will represent you to the best of his or her ability, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to step aside rather than ask to represent your manuscript (Aw, hon, that's okay - I found a really great group of women publishers and I'm happy! But thanks for taking time to read some of it.).

You have a great imagination - I love the premise and you're a good writer (thank you! That's kind of you - in fact, this encourages the hellvetica out of me to keep trying), but I'm sad to say that I just wasn't passionate enough about this to ask to see more (then we are in agreement - if you aren't passionate about my work, then you aren't right for me, either!). I was intrigued by the theme of spirituality and voices of the dead that the protagonist revisits through objects from her childhood life, but I thought the story lacked direction. I think it's the kind of thing that really is subjective - why some people adore the book on the top of the NYTimes bestseller list, and others don't (I changed something in the first chapter, just because of your feedback about "direction," and perhaps that's what garnered me a contract only a few months after I received your email. Thank you for the feedback - because it turned the corner for my novel).

Just to reiterate, all of these decisions are subjective; another agent and publisher will probably feel differently (Yes, they did, and yes I understand the subjective nature - you really don't even have to feel apologetic, because this is how the business works. Again, to reiterate my point as well, I wouldn't want an agent or publisher who wasn't excited about my work!). I certainly encourage you to continue to seek representation elsewhere (I wish I could offer you some suggested names, but this really is such a subjective business that I'm not sure who it would be right for) (no need for you to suggest, but thanks for being so nice and for the kind offers of help-you could have sent a form letter and you didn't, for that I'm appreciative), and thank you again for the opportunity to take this on (well, thank you for the time you took with me - I'm sure you are a good agent, but things worked out for me after all - All the best to you, Kathryn Magendie).
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Folks, in most instances, we should never give up. In many instances, we should look at something the agent/publisher has said about our book in their comments and use that to make the book better IF what they are saying makes sense when we look at it objectively and not with emotion- it's your work, after all. In some instances, we may find we want to take another direction for our novel and try something and someone else. In my instance, I by-passed an agent and went straight to a publisher just because I loved their motto: "Southern Fried Fiction," and the rest is "my history." Maybe a rejection will be a springboard to something else: a tighter manuscript, or a different agent, or a small royalty paying press like Bellebooks/Bell Bridge Books, or whatever works for you.

I couldn't "kill the messenger" - I could have been upset at this agent, but look at the time she took with my letter. And the hint she gave me about "direction" that allowed me to see something in the first part of my book I needed to change. And here I am, three published books later - Tender Graces is a well-loved novel and I'm proud of it.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Today's links/videos/photos will be done lickity spit, because Angie Gumbo Writer, I, and our wonderful staff are working hard this week to ready the winter issue of The Rose & Thorn Journal and our newsletter. We hope you will stop by and say so long to the writers and poets from our fall issue. Send a note if you enjoy a story or poem or the art- or let us know what you think about R&T.

Our newsletter will go out to email inboxes on January 15, the day the issue goes live. If you haven't signed up, we hope you will--it's free and your emails are protected.

Also, our R&T Blog is chock full of gooey-good-stuff - about writing and writers and books and literature and people and places. Today R&T staffer Dr. Adnan Mahmutovic's (author of Thinner and [Refuge]e and more) review and interview of Jo Cannon’s Insignificant Gestureswill be up at the R&T blog. We'll be posting Adnan's interviews and/or reviews about once a month. We'd love to have you subscribe to the blog while you are there! And I had to put that Dr. there in front of my friend's name - he worked so hard for that Ph.D. Go Adnan!

Because I love my publishers, Bellebooks//Bell Bridge Books and want to impress them with how hard I work and for them to think I am loved by multitudes, *laughing* I'll post this link again if y'all want to go check it out on BB's new blog and my first post with them . . . Bullies, Outcasts, Prejudice and SWEETIE

Though I am doing well on Kindle, I'd love to see more of my books in bookstores and in libraries, so I encourage you to ask for them in your local bookstores and libraries if you are so moved- my dream would be to have my books in every library - oh! I love libraries and librarians. Epecially when he talks about them:

[I still can't remember how to make the links open to a new page, so sorry. I am quite surprised blogspot doesn't have this feature included. I know somewhere we are to put a target="_blank" but danged if I can figure out where/how.]

Danged if this video doesn't make me laugh every time. The look on Mrs. Lincoln's face as ole Abe takes his time . . . laughing!

That's it for now, folks. See you all Friday! Now I'm going to finish my coffee before a snowy walk in the cove.

Monday, January 10, 2011

As I said last Monday, for the next few Mondays I will link back to the series of posts I wrote on "Cleaning up our Manuscripts" - and when we've all caught up, I'll begin to write new thoughts. I'm not big on giving advice, and geez but there's PEE-LENTY of danged ole advice out there as it is, but . . . *Kat trails off* . . . *laughing*

Also, hop on over to Diane Estrella's place where she has a week's worth of give aways and TG is on for today. (I just went by there - she has a big ole bunch of Me up there *blushing teeheehee* and is giving away a copy of Tender Graces - it'll be signed, too.)

Okay, that's enough for today. I'll have more Cleaning up our Manuscripts links next Monday to add to the Roar of Information Over-load out there on writer's advice; dang, I feel like a cliche all of a sudden . . . *laugh*. And, then, Wednesday is "links/videos/photos," and Friday is Open.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Whenever we are in Waynesville driving down Soco Road, we notice this fairly new ice cream parlor. Actually, it's also a "We Buy Gold!" joint, too. We saw it as they painted it and put up signs. As the weeks passed, they began to add more and more menu items and services: unlimited talk, wi-fi, hot chocolate, hot dogs, delivery, et cetera.

We can't drive now without looking to see what they've added or changed. I told GMR, "Look how hard they are working. Look at all they are doing to pull people into their shop."

I wonder, are they having success despite all their efforts? There doesn't seem to be many cars there when we pass - of course, this is the time of year when the tourists have gone home and many of the "part timers" have left. Still, I wonder. These people are trying HARD. They are doing all they can with marketing and promotion and "let's try this and this and this." They are not giving up.

Have GMR and I gone inside yet? I admit: no. What's keeping us from going inside? I've thought about this. First, the color of the place is off-putting. And all the signage over-whelms--some of the signs droop. The "We Buy Gold" doesn't inspire me to go inside. I don't know - something about it causes me to hesitate to go in and check them out, even though I admire them for their tenacity and spirit.

We may try this and try that and try the other, and still something isn't quite right. People aren't coming in. The parking lot isn't full. What may seem wonderful to one is not so wonderful to another. What may be welcoming to a person here doesn't feel welcoming to a person there.

I sometimes want to go in and say, "Step back from what you are doing and really look at the image your place is reflecting . . ." and maybe they could see what I see. But another part of me imagines them inside, happy and excited; getting together and discussing: "what next!" with a fever of happiness that they have their very own business and look at how beautiful it is -- that image makes me smile. That image makes me want to go in - every time I see a new angle, I want to go in. But still I have not. I want them to be successful. I want to see the parking lot full, but if I don't go in myself to support them, then . . . well, you see my point.

Sometimes, despite your best effort, despite all you put into your work, still the parking lot doesn't seem as full as you'd like. So you change something, and something else, and add something and fiddle and change. When all along, there is that glaring one thing you haven't noticed: the front of your building.

I think there's a lesson or a moral or a metaphor in this, even though I'd only thought to come talk about this little ice cream shop.

What do you think?
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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

It's Wednesday and time for links and videos. First, thanks for the well-wishes for GMR's and my 14th annivesary - had a wonderful day. Today's the two-year anniversary of this blog - I thought to celebrate it, but then I didn't plan a thang - huhn. Oh well.

Links (and I still haven't figured out how to make the links open to a new page where you don't have to backtrack to here - someone showed me how & I can't find the email . . . dang my hide!)

The photos above were taken from my porch here in the cove at Killian Knob - I put these two plus a couple more on my Facebook page and people really seem to respond to these images, so I thought I'd put two of them here.
As for videos, I leave you with a short You Tube vid of Soco Falls in Cherokee Reservation here in WNC, where GMR and I went yesterday. . . it's only about 10-15 minutes from our house.

Now y'all all go Do The Day! See you Friday, which is Open to whatever I'm in the mood for.

Monday, January 3, 2011

It is Write The Dang Book, Kathryn time. I must finish VK III, the third (final) Graces book, and that means it is time for me to GET ME ARSE TO SOME SERIOUS WORK TO MEET MY DEADLINE . . . and it is also time to hop back on my regular blog posting of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. My long vacation is O V E R! I feel refreshed, renewed, and ready to get back to work.

For the first few Mondays, to kick things off, I'm linking to archives on my series "cleaning up our manuscripts." This will be a good start to Monday's posts, which will be writing/grammar/publication/et cetera related.

Wednesdays will be links and/or videos, which will concern general subjects (including other bloggers, writers, poets, artists, or whatever general doodlee dah I come across that I want to share).

Fridays are open.

I will say that January 4th is GMR's and my 14th anniversary, and January 5 will be two years since I began this blog. *big smile*